Put simply a broadband internetservice provider is a company which can provide you with internet access at a high speed. Broadband is much faster than dial up access, which can only operate at the speed of the phone line it uses.

A broadband ISP also provides a connection to the internet which is permanently available, regardless of whether or not you actually have your computer switched on. This means you can boot up, click on your internet icon and be surfing within minutes of first switching on, depending on how fast your computer loads up. A broadband ISP connection means you don't have to request access to go online by dialling up first.

Broadband works by using bandwidth. The more bandwidth your particular connection has, the more you can do and the faster your own connection will be. Different broadband ISPs will offer you different packages, which may have different speeds advertised. Basically the higher the number the faster your service will be, although you will of course pay for the faster service.

Quite often the real difference with the power of broadband can be seen when you try and download files from the internet. Getting your internet services from a broadband ISP will enable you to download those same files much faster - sometimes dozens of times faster - than you ever could via dial up.